Qualcomm Technologies, an American multinational semiconductor manufacturer, has started testing the next generation Snapdragon LTE modem, which can attain a download speed of up to 2 Giga-bits-per-second (Gbps). Dubbed as Snapdragon X24 LTE modem, the new modem is built on 7-nanometer FinFET process. It is the company’s eighth-generation LTE multimode modem and third-generation Gigabit LTE solution. According to the company claims, the Snapdragon X24 LTE modem delivers 2x the speed of the company’s first-generation Gigabit LTE modem – Snapdragon X16.

It supports up to 7 times the carrier aggregation in the downlink, as well as 4x4 MIMO on up to five aggregated LTE carriers – both mobile industry firsts – for a total of up to 20 concurrent spatial LTE streams. In the uplink (uploads speed), Snapdragon X24 supports Category 20 upload speeds, 3x20 MHz CA and up to 256-QAM.

In terms of specifications, the Snapdragon X24 LTE modem pairs with an advanced RF transceiver built in 14 nm FinFET process technology. It also pairs the Qualcomm QET5100 Envelope Tracker, making it the first modem to support 60 MHz envelope tracking for up to 3x uplink carrier aggregation channels with simultaneous High Power User Equipment (HPUE) support in Band 41, engineered to deliver power-efficient connectivity for the next generation of mobile devices.Qualcomm will demonstrate the next-generation X24 LTE modem, in conjunction with Ericsson, NETGEAR and Telstra at the Mobile World Congress 2018, which would unfold in Barcelona starting February 26.